December activity ideas, week by week
Lights, snow, the longest night, and the turn of the year, for every winter holiday at the table.
December gives you Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the shortest day of the year, and the last night of the year, so plan for lights, snow, and good food rather than one holiday alone. Here is a plan for each week of December: one coloring page with its Story Starter, plus two or three low-cost ideas, each with a seated version.
The questions and pages below work for any tradition, or none. Lights, snow, a warm drink, and a wreath on the door belong to everybody.
The month at a glance
- Hanukkah: eight nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar, so the dates move each year. Check them before you plan.
- International Mountain Day: December 11
- National Poinsettia Day: December 12, for Joel Roberts Poinsett, who is credited with bringing the plant to the United States
- The Wright brothers' first airplane flights: December 17, 1903
- First day of winter: the shortest day of the year, which falls between December 20 and 23
- Christmas: Friday, December 25
- Kwanzaa: December 26 to January 1
- New Year's Eve: the last night of the year
The holiday date above is always this year's, so the list can go on the bulletin board and stay there.
Week by week
Week 1: Lights of every kind
Start the month with the one thing every winter holiday shares: light in the dark. Hanukkah's dates move from year to year, so if its eight nights fall later this month, save these ideas and use them again then.
Color Candles and gifts, from Seasons of Light: candles and wrapped gifts. Print it in Regular and Bold. Bold has thicker lines and fewer tiny details, easier to see and easier to finish. Hand out a page or two, and read the Story Starter once, aloud: "How did your house light up for the holidays?" Then go back to your own page and wait. Candles in a window, a menorah, a tree, a string of colored bulbs along the porch: every answer is the right one.
Also this week:
- A lights walk. After supper, walk the halls to see the lights, or take the bus past a street that goes all out. Seated version: turn off the overhead lights, string battery lights down the middle of the table, and sit with a cup of something warm.
- A song circle. Sing a carol, a Hanukkah song, and a plain winter song, such as one about snow or sleigh bells. Walk the halls and sing at a few doors. Seated version: sing in a circle, and pass a set of hand bells around so everyone rings a verse.
Week 2: Snow, mountains, and a poinsettia
International Mountain Day is the 11th and National Poinsettia Day is the 12th. Spend the week on snow and the color red.
Color the Mountain in the snow, from First Snow: a mountain, snowfall, and a line of trees. Its Story Starter is "Snowmen or snowballs: which did you like better?" Expect sledding hills, frozen mittens, and at least one snowball that hit the wrong person.
Also this week:
- Paper snowflakes. Fold and cut paper snowflakes, then walk them around and tape one to every door. Seated version: cut them at the table, pass them down the line to open up, and a staff member hangs them.
- Snow in a bowl. If it snows, step outside together and catch a few flakes on a sheet of dark paper to look at up close. Seated version: bring a bowl of fresh snow to the table, and let everyone touch it before it melts.
- A poinsettia trip. Take a short outing to a garden center to pick out one poinsettia for the dining room. Seated version: bring the plant to the table, set it in the middle, and color it in with every red in the box.
Week 3: Paper airplanes and the longest night
The Wright brothers flew on December 17, 1903, and the shortest day of the year comes a few days later.
Color Tea by the winter window: tea, lemon, and honey by a snowy window. Its Story Starter fits the longest night: "What did you like to watch from a window on a snowy day?" Birds at a feeder, kids on sleds, a mail truck in the drifts: let it unfold.
Also this week:
- Paper airplanes. Fold paper airplanes and fly them down the hallway. Mark where each one lands. Seated version: fly them from your chairs at a laundry basket set a few feet away.
- Tea at the window. On the shortest afternoon, pull chairs up to the biggest window and serve tea with lemon and honey, just like the drawing. Seated version: bring the tea to anyone who'd rather stay where they are, and open their curtains wide.
Week 4: Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve
Christmas is this week, Kwanzaa begins the day after, and the year ends a few days later. Keep the table open to all of it.
Color the Holiday wreath, the cover drawing of Seasons of Light: a wreath with a bow, an ornament, and a butterfly. Its Story Starter is "What went on your front door for the holidays?" A wreath, a bell, a string of lights, nothing at all: there's no wrong door.
Also this week:
- Paper-plate wreaths. Cut the center out of paper plates and glue on paper leaves and bows. Each person walks their wreath to their own door to hang it. Seated version: make the wreath at the table, and a staff member hangs it.
- New Year's Eve at noon. Midnight is late, so ring in the new year at noon on the last day of the year, with sparkling cider and a countdown. Seated version: bring the cider and a noisemaker to each chair or room, and count down together.
Ten questions for the month
Read one at a time, to the whole table, and wait. None of them has a wrong answer, and each one asks about a story or a preference, never about whether someone remembers.
- Who put up the lights at your house, and who untangled them?
- What smell means December to you?
- Which winter song could you sing right now without the words in front of you?
- What's the best gift you ever made for someone?
- Snow day: sled, shovel, or stay inside with a book?
- What did your family eat on the last night of the year?
- Who taught you to make something by hand: a quilt, a cookie, a wreath?
- On a trip, did you like to drive, take the train, or fly? This one is the Story Starter on Palm island.
- What's a family tradition you'd like to keep going?
- What would you like to do more of in the new year?
New in the library this month
New pages arrive on the 1st of each month, in time for next month's calendar, and that morning's email lists what's new. Already in the library for December:
- Seasons of Light, for Christmas, Hanukkah, the new year, and winter itself: Holiday wreath, Stocking and ornaments, Candles and gifts, The Christmas tree room, Tea by the winter window, By the fire, and Cup of cocoa.
- For snow and the new year: Snowy cottage, Mountain in the snow, Snowflakes all over, and Snowflake mandala.
Every drawing comes in Regular and Bold, with a Story Starter on the page. See the Christmas page for a coloring hour for the holidays, or the whole Seasons of Light pack.
If you'd like to try it first, the First Pack is six drawings with a Story Starter on each, free, with your organization's name on the cover.
Free coloring pages for your activity calendar: tablewellpages.com/free